New York based Digital Marketing Consultant, Jari Rouas provides great insights and tools that will help you differentiate your site and your branding. She reminds us that if we are seeking brand distinction (and who isn’t?), then we must do our homework by reviewing and measuring our competition.

How do you cut through the clutter?  Planning certainly helps and part of this is taking the time to really explore and discover what the digital landscape looks like.   I see otherwise brilliant agencies proposing digital tactics that may appear to be unique but when launched the brand may not be the first, nor even a fast follower, in the space with this offering; there may be dozens of sites that satisfy the searcher.

Taking time to do due diligence and understand the online environment is time well spent.

Important to note as you list the competitive set it should not only include the obvious – similar product but whatever product or services might be competing for the same eyeballs.  For example, for an OTC sleep aide you’d want to look not only at other products on shelf but devices that reduce snoring and beds that help people sleep better.  People seeking solutions don’t always search to find a product.

Read Jari’s full essay (which includes specific steps and resources), you can read it in it’s entirety here: Key Step To Avoiding Being a ‘Me Too’ Site.

Manager of Social Media Marketing, Sandy Adam reminds us of the fundamentals of social media,

Let’s get something straight; right from the get go. Social technology isn’t easy, free or the magic pill that will take a Brand from obscurity to success in short order. No. Social is hard. WAY hard. Social never sleeps. You might, but while you do, it’s a thriving and active community that does very well without you.  But that said, social is AWESOME! It’s exciting and invigorating while being confusing and exasperating. Hmm, this sounds a lot like a personal relationship doesn’t it? THAT is what social is.. a personal relationship with the world.

Read Sandy’s full essay, (which includes a tip on an excellent social media book) and reader her guidance on what to do next, after you’ve been doing social media for a while. (Hint: You may already be doing it!)

More execs and presenters need to be aware of Tufte and his principles of information design. If I only had a dollar for every overwrought presentation I’ve sat through…
“Clutter is a failure of design, not an attribute of information.” - Edward Tufte

In my observation, the carpenter’s rule, “measure twice, cut once” is also a perfect adage that is also good for software design and development.

Summary

Consumer behavior patterns and influence spheres now extend beyond focus groups and interactions with service professionals. Many to Many (M:M) communications enabled by social media, communities, forums and blogs has changed the dynamic, putting the consumer in-charge of the brand/product with which they choose to associate and share their attention.

Problem

Communication paradigms and shifts

In the coming three to five years, marketing organizations will not have a distinct role for digital marketers. All marketers will be digital marketers, with some having specialization in print, TV, and other media (currently mainstream marketing channels). This change reflects ongoing transformations in commercial communications made possible by technology advances that continue to shape our ability to reach audiences and customers… Read the entire article.

micrositezusa:

Social Media is used by tons of people daily. Here is a chart with all the top sites of 2012.

I can appreciate that many of my friends have chosen to do their own personal blackouts today in opposition to SOPA and PIPA, but for my part, I’ve chosen to spend today highlighting the issue and underscore the actions that we can take. Please join me by writing your representatives.

http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

johndella011:

Did you know that Coca-cola is actually one of the brands that have managed to establish the biggest business presence on Facebook? As of August of 2011 alone, Coca Cola’s Facebook marketing campaign had earned it more than 34 million fans and that numbers continues to grow at a rate of 3 percent every month. Now you may be wondering, what does all that have to do with me when Coca-cola is a huge international brand that can afford to dish out millions of dollars in its marketing campaign? While that is indeed true, there are actually various strategies and methodologies in social media that you can learn and replicate from this social media marketing giant.

Tips for boosting your business presence on Facebook

Increasing your business reach in Facebook

As you may already know, your business reach in Facebook refers to the number of Facebook fans following your business page and how much this number grows grow every month. Growing these numbers is challenge that Facebook marketing campaigns all share and leveraging your current fans and customers is always a good place to start tackling such challenges. You may want to think about integrating a page on your sight that showcases your social media presence and introducing social media buttons that take site visitors to your business pages on social networks enabling them to easily “like” or follow you. You should also consider adding social media sharing buttons such as the “like” or “Share on Facebook” button to your existing web content like landing pages and blogs which would certainly help increase you reach and help improve the effectiveness of your Facebook marketing campaigns.

Another excellent approach to attract followers in social media networks is to introduce content or materials that are exclusive to fans and followers of your brand. Social marketing studies had shown that more than 50 percent of Facebook users are actually looking forward to exclusive content from business pages that they’ve “liked” so take advantage of these numbers. Captivate visitors with a preview of the exclusive content or material that you are offering. Customize tabs on your business page and come up with something that attracts new visitors of your business page to become fans.

Engaging your fans and followers

Fan and follower engagement on Facebook is all about your business sharing relevant content on a frequent basis. Engagement can be measured not only with the total number of posts you’ve made but the number of responses you are getting from fans or followers. In the case of Coca-cola, follower and fan engagement averages 1,749 likes and 236 comments per post as of August 2011. Needless to say, your business needs to create and post interesting and engaging content on a regular basis aimed at sparking a conversation with your fans or followers.

Optimizing the technical structure of your business page

Many people in the social media marketing business tend to overlook this fact but the technical structure of your business page is just as important when improving your business presence on Facebook. There are certainly a couple of things that you could look into to ensure that that the technical structure of your page is optimized for Facebook’s search function. For one thing, making sure that your brand name is present in the page title, vanity URL and body of your business page will certainly help and you also need to remember to add visible links to your business website which will help drive more site traffic.

Manage and keep track of your reputation

Indeed creating and regularly contributing interesting and engaging content on your Facebook page is crucial but keeping careful track of your business page and posts is every bit as important. You need to be on top of any active discussions present on your business page – it is after all a solution aimed at getting in touch and interacting with your fans and you need to do your part! You can use “Facebook Insights” to keep track of everything on your business page such as comments, views and fan growth. Also remember that any Facebook user can create a page about your business either to praise or discredit it so just because your own business page is glowing with good feedbacks and comments doesn’t mean that you can rest on your laurels.

socialsoojin:

There’s bad news and good news about the way consumers interact with brands on social media.

The bad news? When customers complain on social media, those complaints can tarnish your brand’s name for a wide audience faster than ever.

The good news? Just as complaints travel at light speed thanks to social media, so do compliments.

If you think you’re not “on” or “doing” social media, you’re wrong. Your company may not be active, but I guarantee your fans and your non-supporters are there. Because of this, it is the brand’s responsibility to create a social media experience that can turn a dissatisfied customer into a raving fan.

To help your brand do this, here are seven ways to create a memorable customer experience on social media.

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1. Give Your Customers a Place to Talk

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Some companies are afraid to set up Facebook pages because they allow customers to comment, which means someone might write something negative. It seems counterintuitive, but you should actually wantcustomers to complain on your company’s Facebook page. If your customers are complaining about you on their personal, privacy-protected Facebook profiles, you have no way to know if they’re complaining, much less reach out to them and make it right.

When customers complain on your brand’s Facebook page, you can respond and resolve issues. If you do it right (and get a little lucky), unhappy customers will turn their opinions around and recommend you to friends because of your fantastic customer service.

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2. Integrate Social Media Into Your Customer Service

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Neglecting your social media properties when they’re full of customer complaints is suicide for your brand. It’s like publishing a customer service hotline phone number that no one ever answers. (Except worse, because the whole Internet can see your negligence.)

Don’t open up the floor for complaints without a plan to handle them. Predict the complaints you may get and construct policies for replying to them. You should also plan on responding to fans who compliment you. At the very least, you should thank customers for the compliment. But if you really want to make customers happy, show happy customers your appreciation with coupons or other rewards.

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3. Activate Your Existing Customer Base

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Most brands have more customers than they do Facebook fans and Twitter followers. Start building your social media fan base by reaching out to your current customers — after all, they already “like” your brand in real life.

Think about how you currently contact your customer base and how you can use those communication channels to draw customers to your social media properties. For example, you could run a contest or promotion on Facebook and then include that promotion on your product’s packaging, in your next email, and in any touch point you have with your customers.

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4. Be Proactive

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Don’t just wait for someone to post on your wall or tweet your account. It’s especially easy on Twitter to monitor for mentions of your name and reach out when someone has a problem, even if they haven’t mentioned your account. Set your brand apart by proactively interacting with customers who are talking about your brand, whether you’re thanking them for a compliment or helping them solve a problem.

Think about why your customers use social media sites like Twitter — it’s because they want to “connect” and to have a voice out there. Make them happy that someone, most importantly your company, is listening to what they have to say.

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5. Reward Influencers

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Find the social media influencers for your audience and give them extras. This could be as simple as giving them advance notice of a special promotion, or complex as giving them a free trip and tour of your facilities. For example, check out what Musselman’s apple sauce did for its blogger network. Making people feel special will help turn them into advocates for your brand. Reward your brand ambassadors when they least expect it and you’ll see some pretty phenomenal results.

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6. Create Compelling Content

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Give your fans something of value on your page. For example, Nordstom’s “Beauty Central” on Facebook provides a ton of relevant, useful content. You can do something similar to this in every industry. If you’re a movie producer, post behind-the-scenes photos, and if you’re a bank, write money saving tips. It’s hard to get people to engage with your brand when you don’t have anything interesting to say. Every brand can (and should) create quality content.

Social media can be a channel to make customers or followers feel special, like they’re in an exclusive club with your brand because they follow you. Make them feel this exclusiveness whether you have ten social media fans or 100,000.

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7. Stand Out From the Crowd

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Some of the most memorable social media experiences are created by going beyond text. This can be as complex as Starbucks’s Pumpkin Picture app, or simple as using voice applications to let your brand’s spokesperson actually speak to your fans. The more interactive and engaging your social media presence, the better. In part, social media is a little anti-social because there can be a lot lost in plain text. By giving your fans a true voice on social media, or encouraging participation through photos and videos, you humanize the experience that much more. You’ll be doing so when most of the other companies out there aren’t really participating effectively this way. 

Dave Toliver is the Director of Corporate Marketing at Angel, a leading provider of cloud based customer experience solutions. By developing innovative IVR, call center and voice applications that put the customer first, Angel is changing the way enterprises serve their customers.